The Wonder of the Western Wall

For thousands of years, God’s people have gathered to worship, mourn and pray here at the base of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem in a place called the Western Wall, the Wailing Wall and the ha-Kotel. But it hasn’t always been easy.

At God's holy hill

The height of the Wall from its foundation is estimated at 105 feet with only about 62 feet exposed. The remainder is covered with rubble from the last 2,000 years. Archeologists say the Wall consists of 45 rows of stones, 28 of them above ground and 17 underground. The first seven visible layers are believed to be from the earliest period – at least 2,100 years ago, possibly dating back to Solomon’s Temple hundreds of years earlier. This layer is composed of enormous limestone blocks believed to have been quarried at either Zedekiah's Cave or at the Ramat Shlomo quarry three miles away.